Where We Left Off (37 page)

“Yeah.”

“Well, it took me over a decade to get there, but that was me working on it.”

“Determined.” She laughed.

“I’d say.” I pulled her closer. “It wasn’t easy, but it was so unbelievably worth the wait.” I rubbed circles on her stomach and said, “And this little one is going to be worth the long wait, too.”

“Good things come to those who wait,” Mallory recited, fitting her small hand over mine.

“Great things,” I agreed. “Letting my heart wait on you was the best decision I ever made. I’m not even sure it was an actual decision. I could never let go of you, no matter how hard I’d tried. I just couldn’t shake my love for you, Mallory.”

“I’m glad.” She held me tighter. “And I love that we were able to pick up right where we left off.”

“There was no doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t. We just had to wait for life to give us another chance,” I said. “But remember, you
are
the girl that does seem to love everything, so of course you would love that fact.”

With her lips pressed to mine, Mallory kissed me tenderly. Our gaze connected as she said, “I might love everything, Heath, but I love you more than anything, and there’s a difference.”

I just smiled down at the woman who so wholly possessed me it made it hard to breathe. “I know there is, Mallory. I feel it. I’ve always felt that difference with you.”

It was the reason that—after all those years, and for all the years to come—Mallory would forever own my heart.

She made all the difference, and I wouldn’t have had it happen in any different way.

THE END

Megan Squires is a writer and a photographer and loves to photograph based on what she writes and write based on what she photographs. She’s fueled by Diet Coke and an overactive imagination and can’t do without the San Francisco Giants, her romance novel-filled kindle, and her cowgirl boots.

And she loves
love.
Like seriously adores those butterflies you get when you think about that first kiss or reminisce about holding hands with someone you’d been crushing on for years. Even if it was cringe-worthy and terrible, there’s just nothing like connecting with another human being on that nervous, hesitant level. Relationships are complex and wonderful and scary, and Megan gets a rush each time she has a chance to write about them and all of their layers. This is why young and new adult literature are her genres of choice.

A graduate from the University of California, Davis, with an international relations degree, Megan currently resides in Sacramento with her husband, two children, two golden retrievers and two horses. She’s practically building an ark. She documents her dreams with both her keyboard and camera and has enough characters in her head to keep her busy for years.

You can visit Megan online at
www.megansquiresauthor.com
.